'79 CDV: 425 out 500 in!

A few pics of the above work, will order cloth this week for the finish.
 

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A few more pics; still need to do cutouts and detail.
 

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Duly noted, but the seat cloth is thick and has a little thin(real thin) type of sprayed on backing so not worried about bleed through.

You aren't related to the "Motor City Madman" by any chance are you? :mischievous:

Bruce,
 
Finally got the new headliner in this weekend. I'm glad I don't do this stuff for a living, either go broke or mad, not sure which. :boggled:

I used the cloth from the seats because it's a lot thicker but that made it weigh a lot more! Real PITA trying to maneuver and get it lined up. The stuff I used has a dot pattern and had to be lined up unlike the plain no pattern. I was a little off on my orientation marks, about 1/2" or so but it's close enough that I can live with it. After the foam, bubble wrap, and cloth totaling about $ 400 :yikes: I'm not going to do much else except steam and brush out a few areas and call it GOOD! Still need to install dome light and rear sail panel lenses

A few pics, I didn't brush out the bias/nap so it doesn't look as good as it will when I do. If anyone thought it looked like a pimpmobile(I know WTF but some did :screwy: ) before it just got better. Plus it should be quieter and more cave like plus about 1 1/2" more headroom.

Bruce,
 

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I always liked that pattern. A friend had that pattern in a nice medium blue.

That car was so plush to ride in. :cloud9:

Tom
 
I guess there have been some sad tails :guilty: told on this forum so I'll add mine. It started last Sunday after taking the '79 out for a drive, after making a few stops I started her up to head home and heard a WTH clanking/slapping sound from under the hood. :yikes:

The car started but seem a little slow to, so I thought it might be a loose starter or maybe a loose motor mount. It seemed to run ok and I couldn't really tell where the noise was coming from and it was intermittent so I closed the hood and hoped I could make it home. I got home and parked her for the night.

Got the car up on stands Monday so I could get a good look underneath and couldn't fine anything loose or broken. The sound wasn't too loud getting her up in the driveway but after not finding anything underneath I started up again and heard the noise louder. It wasn't coming from any place topside so I got underneath her while running and found the noise coming from the oil pan .

You could feel some thing moving around in there and occasionally hitting the sides of the pan, :censored: OMG what a great feeling to find the source so easily, I was so frick'in happy, like hell!

Don't know what it is but most likely either the windage tray or pump pick up part/s. The car runs great and oil pressure is the same as it's always been. Been thinking about getting one of the small inspection probe/cameras to go in the pan plug hole to take a look, need to drain oil and see what size the hole is. Can get a set up that has a 5.5mm tip and hooks up to a computer for $ 30 or so. Maybe pull the rocker covers and see if anything is missing.

The worst thing about the whole thing is having to pull the engine to fix it. :tapedshut: With the cast alu pan there isn't enough room to get it out and fix what ever it is. So sad,. I sold my engine hoist/stand after this build knowing I was never, never ever going to have to use them again. Well anyway that's my sad tale, will spent the next few days deciding when to do what needs to be done whatever it is.

Bruce,
 
Doc,

You mentioned a "cast aluminum pan." Is that the transmission pan or the oil pan? Just curious.

d
 
OK, so just fix it. Get a Horrible Fright $100 engine hoist, or rent one, or borrow one from
a friend. Maybe the damage is minimal & repairable.

I really don't know how many times the engine has been out of my 79 Eldo; its worse
with FWD and double worse with EFI. Bruce Roe
 
Do you have a crank scraper or an actual baffle ?
ounds like from your description the sound is intermittent ??
If you have a baffle I bet thats your noise..

Rod bearing rattle would change tone if you rap the throttle in neutral
And have a floating rattle sound.. I don't think it's that

Nothing I can think of that could be missing up top and causing a intermittent
pan rattle ..And still have it running good

With the CadCo pan there us lots of rod clearences
it slopes away from the crank..

Bummer is no matter the frame configuration
with one it means pulling the motor to put it
back on.. because of the no gasket right stuff
deal..

P.S
I got so good at pulling the motor from my
Cadilark I could do it in less than 40 minutes

P.S.S
Is something actually hitting the pan ??

P.S.S.S
Make sure it isn't a lifter noise first.. sometimes it will sound like it's coming
from middle or lower end :twocents:
 
The Mad Cadder said:
P.S.S.S
Make sure it isn't a lifter noise first.. sometimes it will sound like it's coming
from middle or lower end :twocents:

I say this because EVERY hydraulic lifter engine Ive had had lifter noise of some sort.
Including the Banana..

The only exceptions to this was way back when you could get lifters
at the Cadillac dealer and then they [ The parts Manager ] told me this set was from
Japan.. garbage motors dosent make them anymore ...outsourced .. guess what ... It had tappets


I had one 472 that you would bet had a rod knock and drove and raced it for thousands of miles..

To this day I don't know what it was everything checked good when I took it apart..
I was convinced that it was coming from the torque converter

In short .. Don't get discouraged :D
 
Any word yet Doc ? Hope it's nothing serious

I realized you mentioned some failures that have
happened to others.

Fwik your motor is very mild I doubt it wiped
bearings yet :twocents:

I got pa rancid about mine yesterday hearing a strange rattle
from mid block.. First I tightness up the headers as I realized
I was hearing some exhaust leaking too.. But I still heard the
noise.. Didn't sound like valvetrain at all a floppy banging noise
It turned out to be the dipstick banging on the inner fender

That reminds me.... Have you checked to see if your dipstick tube is loose or
has moved !!!!!!!
 
Thanks for the replies/concerns, after a few days of thinking about what to do, no matter what it still comes down to having to fix it one way or another.

Haven't got into pan yet to try to see what is banging around, and there is something hitting the sides of the pan(it's the cast alum from CadCo) you can most definitely feel it. :cursing: Got inspection probe/camera coming and will try it out to see what I can see. "To see what I can see," sounds like a line from a song from "The Amazing Rhythm Aces."

Since I have to pull the engine to make the whatever repair I've been thinking about what possible changes/redo's could be made . :scratchchin: Been thinking about one of the FI units that just bolt in place of the 4150 style carb and are mostly self contained, maybe FAST, or the new one from MSD. Maybe somebody has some ideas on this.

Anyway, well have to get a list of things to do so at least the project will be a move forward instead of just ending up where I started from with less money in my pocket. Seems like that's the one thing consistent with owning/working on any car is there's always money going out of some pocket. :crying:

Bruce,
 
Skip the f.a s.t. .. Put the $ into making real power
Take my hand and let the Mad Cadder guide your journey
Tired of just raining information on the hopelessly
miss guided, lost and uneducatable

PM me and we will talk
 
The Mad Cadder said:
Skip the f.a s.t. .. Put the $ into making real power
Take my hand and let the Mad Cadder guide your journey
Tired of just raining information on the hopelessly
miss guided and lost and uneducatable PM me and we will talk

After playing around with EFI since the 90s, I have concluded its primary advantage
on old engines is reducing emissions. Some of the wild stuff now, variable valves,
turbos, integrated trans operation need it. It will do better for extremes in altitude
and temperature, do you go up Pikes Peak? Worry first about ignition timing, which
some EFIs don't even control.

An EFI with closed loops, MAF, or learning is much better, otherwise you have a huge
job manually teaching it to properly run your engine. Don't think it just bolts on like
a carb. I am still running a wide band OX sensor on my daily 79 Eldo trying to get
the EFI to 100%. Bruce Roe
 
The Mad Cadder said:
Skip the f.a s.t. .. Put the $ into making real power

Take my hand and let the Mad Cadder guide your journey
Tired of just raining information on the hopelessly
miss guided, lost and uneducatable

PM me and we will talk

Say what?

My first thoughts were of Troglodytes, Neanderthals, Knuckle Draggers, Haters of fuel injection - but then, I am repeating myself.

HWC
 
Thanks for the input, between this forum for the '79CDV and the Mercedes forum for the '90 560SEC I've been getting a lot of ideas on what guys would like me to do to these cars. You got to love the passion guys have for their favorite car.

Since I'm going to have to pull the engine this will be a good time to redo some things that didn't work out, have new ideas on, or just need a refresh. I'm not looking for any huge increase in power or performance, it has the 120cc head/piston combo so any real increase would involve new pistons/heads, and I'm not going there.

I just suggested looking in FI but with the cost maybe the money would be better spent else where. Like Bruce said, most of the FI changes would be in ease of starting, fuel economy, maybe reliability, not so much increased performance.

One area I've been thinking of doing ever since finishing the build was or is lowering the front end. I have a set of unused new Moog springs for a Chevelle that have a lower spring rate. I guess the question is, would it be better to use these or cut the stock springs?

Does a spring with a lower load factor but the same number of coils as a stock spring going to give you much lower height? The more I think about it, it seems you would have to cut both of them to get a lower install height or pack. I'm thinking off cutting the stock springs one full coil so it goes back into the pocket and see what the result is. If that doesn't work I still have the lower rate new springs to try. A real good stance is about the only thing lacking in this car as far as I see. But it's also about the hardest thing to get just right.

Well I do have some time to get a plan in place and then work the plan.

Bruce,
 
Personally I would not want to use a lower spring rate set unless you only plan to drag race the car.

I would start by just cutting a 1/2 coil out of the ones in it now and see how that looks.

Easier to cut a few extra times than it is to get it to low.

Tom
 
Darius said:
The Mad Cadder said:
Skip the f.a s.t. .. Put the $ into making real power

Take my hand and let the Mad Cadder guide your journey
Tired of just raining information on the hopelessly
miss guided, lost and uneducatable

PM me and we will talk

Say what?

My first thoughts were of Troglodytes, Neanderthals, Knuckle Draggers, Haters of fuel injection - but then, I am repeating myself.

HWC

lol .. lol ...Oh my God stop I can't take it think Iam goona pee my pants
 
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